New Gensokyo Railway Series 1 (Engine Incidents)
by Pergold
Summary: Its been ten years since the Thin Shrine Maiden had written her famous stories. But now she's back. Featuring stories such as Hiroto's new smoke deflectors or Akemi having trouble with some well wagons, and Ichihiro being too cocky with his brakes.
1. A Letter From the Author

Dear Friends,

It has been ten years since I have last written.

I moved my shrine to the bottom of Hiroto's Hill and

the money I got from publishing my stories has allowed me to

build a station to service my shrine, albeit none of the express

engines come and stop by, except for the one time Hiroto

had to stop because he threw off some parts of him.

There was also the time Ichihiro's brakes had failed him, and he

came down with a runaway train, yet again.

Then Akemi had an incident with some well wagons.

I think I have spoken too much already, its been so long.

My shrine is quite busy, mostly because its such a good place

to watch the trains go by. Some people come and ask

if a railway god was enshrined, to which I respond accordingly,

"No, but I wish. But that would mean enshrining me."

That would always get a laugh out of the people that

come by.

I hope you enjoy these next few stories that I have

managed to jolt down in between breaks whilst I'm

servicing my shrine.

The Author


	2. Smoke Deflector Defector

As an experiment, Nitori Kawashiro, the railway's chief mechanical engineer, decided to try out adding smoke deflectors to the engines. The first engine she tried it out on was Hiroto, the big express engine. He didn't like them, he thought of them as ugly, the other engines thought it was funny.

"You look like you have elephant ears, Hiroto." chortled Kenta.

" _Gutentag_ Hiroto! You do look quite German today! _Heil_ Hiroto!" joked Akemi.

"Can you hear me know?" asked Kiyoshi, trying to be funny.

"This is awful!" Hiroto would always respond.

One day, Hiroto was at the works for general maintenance and saw Nitori.

"Ms. Kawashiro!" called out Hiroto.

"What is it Hiroto?" asked Nitori.

"The other engines. They laugh at me and at my hideous smoke deflectors!"

"Hiroto!" said Nitori, "These smoke deflectors are meant to be an upgrade, these help your crew see better by moving the smoke away from your cab windows."

"But Nitori!"

"But nothing Hiroto." replied Nitori, "Now if you excuse me, I have work to do."

Hiroto continued to sulk until the next day, when he felt something loose.

"Is that a loose bolt I feel?" he said to himself.

When he began to move, he felt the bolt move slightly.

"It's the one connecting one of my smoke deflectors!" he kept this a secret.

When he was pulling his express to the Moriya Shrine, he bumped and jolted about, trying to dislodge the loose bolt.

"Steady Hiroto!" called out his driver, "We don't want the passengers to complain!"

But they did complain, Hiroto had accidentally bumped the coaches just enough that he upset the passengers. They buzzed out like bees and complained to the acting stationmaster, who was Suwako Moriya. She was overwhelmed by the amount of passengers. Suwako got Sanae to come over and he gave the passengers a discount on their tickets and even gave out free tickets for those who gave _generous_ donations. Hiroto was much more careful on the return journey.

But soon he was back to trying to dislodging the loose bolt once he started on his run to the Hakurei Shrine. He jerked about, this time he was careful enough to not bump the coaches. Hiroto saw that there was a set of points, he was going to be diverted onto the other track. So he gave a big bump on the points and the bolt gave way. His right side smoke deflector swung to his side, becoming perpendicular to his boiler.

"Hiroto! One of your smoke deflectors are in the way!" his driver said.

"I know." replied Hiroto, smugly.

He was just passing the Thin Shrine Maiden's station when his smoke deflector finally came off and broke one of the station's windows and making a dent in one of the walls.

"Damn it! One of your smoke deflectors just flew off!" cried his driver.

"I know-" before Hiroto could finish, he noticed that his smoke deflector did come off, but in the wrong place.

Hiroto stopped by the Hakurei Shrine station when Reimu stormed out and went up to Hiroto.

"Wakana Audrey just called me and she said you threw your parts at her station!" he said angrily.

"Sorry Reimu." said Hiroto.

"Don't say sorry to me! Your controller would probably have to pay for the repairs." replied Reimu.

Reimu was right and the Scarlet Controller gave Hiroto a stern talk.

"You don't like your smoke deflectors. Fine. Don't throw them away at other people and their property! I owe money to the Thin Shrine Maiden for a broken window, a broken wall, and some broken furniture. Do you know how much that costs? Do you!"

"I-I-I-I don't know." said Hiroto, startled.

"Too much! I could rent a train for that much you know!"

Hiroto remained silent, he wore his lone smoke deflector for the rest of the day. That night in the sheds, the other engines were making a different kind of joke about his smoke deflectors.

"I heard Hiroto tossed his smoke deflector at Ms. Audrey today." said Kenta.

"He must've thought he was delivering the Bunbunmaru Newspaper." replied Akemi.

"I think we should have Hiroto scrapped and be made into a missile if he like breaking and smashing things and going ballistic so much." joked Hachirou.

Hiroto just sulked in the shed, the only other engine staying quiet was Shiro, who just looked at his frustrated expression. Hiroto didn't get his other smoke deflector back until the Thin Shrine Maiden's station building could be repaired. This only made Hiroto look more ridiculous. The jokes didn't stop until one day.

Hiroto had just got his smoke deflector back and the usual jokes had resumed. He was pulling the afternoon expres, when his driver applied the brakes.

"What's wrong driver?" asked Hiroto.

Hiroto's answer came sooner than expected as a line of trucks came whizzing past by.

"Holy crap!" exclaimed Hiroto.

Ahiru came chasing after the trucks.

"That was close!" said Hiroto.

"See! That's why we need the smoke deflectors." replied his driver, "So we could see things better!"

Hiroto boasted about how his driver saw the runaway before he did and would tell the other engines about when they started to make joke about his 'ears'. The other engines don't joke about him anymore, if anything, they made Hiroto more cocky and arrogant, so they stopped.

Hiroto thought they realized how his important smoke deflectors were. I think Hiroto is going to learn his lesson in the future, don't you?


	3. Ichihiro's Brakes

Ichihiro had his brakes upgraded during his visit to the Island of Sodor after his previous braking power was sufficient for the Gensokyo loading gauge but not the Britsh. Ever since he came back, he boasted about how he could stop on a 100 Yen coin.

"I could stop a train in two seconds." he would say.

The other engines would just groan. But after a while he stopped. Years had passed until one day, ten years after he had visited Sodor.

"Ichihiro, today your going to pull some heavy machinery to Eientei, its to make medicine making for Eirin easier and quicker." said the Scarlet Controller, giving out the orders.

This made Ichihiro bring back the years dead boast.

"If this train becomes a runaway, I'll just put on my brakes and I'll stop instantly." he said.

The other engines just groaned with annoyance. Ichihiro shunted his train together and soon set off. The machinery was very heavy and it took multiple instances of sanding the rails, but soon he managed to get the train to move.

"I can...do it! I can...do it!" he groaned as he pulled the heavy train away.

The cargo wasn't secured properly and the machinery would shift position any time there would be a change in gradient. This proved to be difficult once Ichihiro got to Hiroto's Hill.

"I must do it!" he said, charging up the incline.

But it was no good, the freight shifted itself to the back of the trucks and pulled Ichihiro down the hill.

"We'll have to call for a backing engine." said his driver.

Soon, Shiro came to help Ichihiro.

"This train is heavy." said Shiro, straining himself to push the train upward.

"At least I stopped it at once." replied Ichihiro, smugly.

Shiro just gave a discontented groan. It took a while before Ichihiro saw the summit of the hill.

"Thanks Shiro!" he said.

"Your welcome Ichihiro, just be careful." replied Shiro.

"Don't worry! My brakes should do just the trick! You'll see!" responded Ichihiro.

Ichihiro puffed down the hill and his cargo shifted forward, giving him a great big push. Ichihiro felt the train move easy, much too easy in fact. Soon he found himself going much too fast.

"Brakes driver!" he called out.

His driver applied the brakes, but instead of stopping immediately. He continued to charge down the hill.

"Stop! Stop!"

"I'm trying!" yelled his driver in response.

The train continued to thunder down the hill. The Thin Shrine Maiden heard the distant screeching of an engine's brakes. But soon realized that the screeching continued to get louder.

"The signal! Its red!" cried Ichihiro, passing the gantry.

Ichihiro gave one loud continuous whistle as he went down the hill, he saw Akemi with a passenger train stopped at the station.

"Gain way!" he cried.

The Thin Shrine Maiden told the passengers to clear the platform as Ichihiro soon came into sight. Ichihiro's brake screeched loudly as he plowed right into the back coach.

Instead of splitering or braking apart, the coach gave a loud metallic THUNK noise.

"Watch it!" yelled Akemi.

"Sorry." replied Ichihiro.

"Thank god for the steel coaches." said the Thin Shrine Maiden.

After the New Year's accident at the Hakurei Shrine, the wooden coaches were replaced by new safer steel ones. This safety measure proved reliable as Ichihiro would have killed the guard and numerous passengers that were already on the train. But instead, he broke the buffer beam and left an imprint in the back wall of the coach.

The passengers were all right, but Ichihiro's face was bruised. Akemi left with his train and Ichihiro was put on a nearby siding, whilst Cobal came and took his train.

"So much for my brakes." said Ichihiro sadly.

"It wasn't your fault." replied his driver.

"Your train should've been checked over, to see if your freight had been secured properly." his driver continued.

"Now the other engines will laugh at me." said Ichihiro.

That night in the sheds, the other engines didn't crack jokes at his expense. In fact, the other engines stayed silent.

"Hopefully." came a voice, "That will teach you to not be so boastful."

Ichihiro didn't know who's voice it was, but he presumed it to be Shiro's voice.


	4. Crossed Lines

"I don't get it!" complained Akemi, "The electric engines in the outside world have two cabs, I bet they don't know whether they're coming and going! Even diesels are like that. I tell you what! They're not proper engines!"

"Shut up, Akemi!" said Hachirou.

"Yeah, be quiet!" chimed in Kiyoshi, "Cobol is a diesel and he has one cab."

"So does Dizeru." replied Akemi.

Later that day, the Scarlet Controller came up to Akemi.

"Akemi. I need you to do some work in the harbor." she said.

"Why can't Kiyoshi or those twins do it?" asked Akemi.

"Kiyoshi is busy and Haruka and Haruki are across the Sanzu right now." the Scarlet Controller explained, she continued, "I need you to take a goods train and then do some shunting."

"Fine." grumbled Akemi.

Akemi soon found his trucks and left for the harbor. As he neared the Sanzu River, a foggy mist encroached upon him.

"I can't see anything in this!" complained Akemi.

"Stop your complaining, its only fog." said his driver.

Akemi just sulked. He soon arrived at the harbor, Akemi parked his trucks in a siding and he was about to do some shunting, when a signalwoman came up to his crew.

"The fog's is thick enough that I can't see the track. I need you to whistle so I can switch the points." she said.

"Right." replied the driver.

Akemi got to work shunting trucks from one siding to the next, empty trucks here, loaded trucks there. All the while whistling to get the signalwoman to change the points.

There were special trucks called 'well wagons', these were special as they were like long flatbeds, except the middle section dipped down. To get around curves, the well wagons used two sets of wheels, called 'bogies'. Akemi was moved the well wagons about. However, just as Akemi was moving one line of well wagons. He heard a whistle, it wasn't his, but he couldn't see who was whistling. But the signalwoman thought it was Akemi and she switched the points, just as Akemi was pushing the well wagons. The first well wagon's front bogie went on one track and the other bogie stayed on another.

Before Akemi could do anything, the well wagon crashed into a set of signals. The beam holding them up snapped and the semaphores smashed onto the ground. He stopped immediately after.

"Oh no." thought Akemi.

The Scarlet Controller soon arrived to see what had happened.

"It wasn't your fault Akemi. But you should've stopped! That signal was for this yard. Now no trains can come through until the signal's been repaired." she said.

"But the signalwoman didn't hear my whistle! She heard someone else's." explained Akemi.

"Akemi. I hope you would be more careful next time, but that signalwoman however..." the Scarlet Controller gave a mischievous smirk and she walked away.

Akemi had to help the workers fix and erect the signal. It was late when he got back to the sheds. He heard a hushed voice, he didn't know who it was or from what berth it came from. But it said "If only you had two cabs, you would have seen what your doing."

Akemi remained indignant until he fell asleep.


	5. Shiro and Takara

The Kourindou branchline was usually run by Shiro. Shiro would take goods and sometimes passengers to the store. This is where he would see the magicians Marisa Kirisame and Alice Margatroid, as well as their son, Takara. Alice would usually take her son to go trainspotting, most of the time they would see Shiro, but sometimes other engines, like Ahiru and Akemi would come when Shiro wasn't available. But when Shiro would come, the magicians would have a chat and talks things in Gensokyo.

One day, Alice and Takara came with Marisa to see Shiro. Shiro pulled into the platform with a small goods train.

"Hello Alice, what brings you here? Are you trainspotting with Takara again?" said Shiro.

"Yes, but can I ask you of something?" said Alice.

"What would that be?" asked Shiro.

"Its going to be Takara's birthday soon, and he says he wants to ride with you."

Takara chimed in, "I want to ride on your...on your...", Takara looked to the side trying to remember that last word.

Shiro laughed, "You mean you want to ride on my footplate?"

Takara nodded, "I want to be a driver."

"I see."

"I don't know about this Alice." said Marisa.

"Honey, its going to be Takara's birthday soon and want to do something special this year." replied Alice.

"But you know how Takara is." Marisa looked at Shiro, and they grabbed Alice aside they talked privately.

"That autism thing that Eirin mentioned, Takara's very sensitive to things, how would he be in a hot cab in a loud engine!" said Marisa.

"But Takara would be fine! He's smart, if he feels too uncomfortable we'll just get him from the Human Village station." replied Alice.

"I hope your right.", Marisa and Alice walked back to Shiro and asked him if it be okay for him to ride in the cab. Shiro asked his crew and they agreed to the arrangement.

"Where are you going to next?" asked Marisa.

"To the Human Village terminus." answered Shiro.

Shiro soon left the station and was pulling a line of empty trucks.

Takara looked around the cab, Shiro's driver began to talk.

"So I heard you want to be a driver."

Takara nodded meekly.

"C'mon, I'll show you how the engine works."

The driver showed Takara everything, "This crank here is the handbrake and this big lever is the regulator, you now what a regulator does."

"It makes the train go faster." said Takara, feeling slightly uncomfortable being with strangers in a very warm cab.

"Your right, the regulator controls the train's speed. If the train needs to stop, there's this other lever that controls the brakes."

Takara listened as the kappa continued to explain the controls and how a steam engine functions.

"See this chain right here?" asked the driver, "This is the whistle, want to pull it?"

Takara said yes and the driver held him up to the chain and Takara pulled it. The whistle made a loud "Peep!" sound as he pulled it, this nearly made Takara jump. But he soon got used to it, "Peep! Peep!" went the whistle as he literally yanked Shiro's chain.

"How's Takara?" asked Shiro.

"Takara's fine!" called his driver.

"Tell him to prepare himself for the mainline!"

The driver turned to Takara and told him to not worry about being on the mainline. But just as Shiro entered the mainline, Hiroto rushed by, blowing steam and whistling loudly. Takara was spooked, he felt himself tremble and felt himself begin to cry.

"Don't cry! Don't cry!" said the driver, "It was only Hiroto with the express."

Takara held in his tears until got to the big station at the Human Village. Shiro's driver telephoned Alice, who then phoned Marisa.

"I knew it!" grumbled Marisa, grabbing her broom.

She flew over to the big station, and picked up Takara, still trembling from fear.

"It's okay. It's okay. It's over." said Marisa, trying to calm her son.

When the two got to Alice's house, Marisa began to argue with Alice.

"I told you this would happen!"

"What do you mean?" replied Alice.

"I mean, I was right that he got scared by riding in that blasted cab, _da ze_!"

"Don't tell me that! From what I heard he just was spooked by being on the mainline!"

"Screw the mainline! I don't think he's fit to be a driver!"

Takara watched on as his parents continued to argue. He grabbed a small metal object and threw it at Marisa, he screamed angrily at his parent, stopping their argument. Takara ran to his room and started crying again. Marisa and Alice walked to Takara's room and the two tried to consul him.

The next day, Alice and Takara watched Shiro as he stopped by the platform.

"How's Takara?" asked Shiro.

"Takara's fine, he kind of sensitive to sound. He's a very sensory kind of kid." said Alice.

"I see. I'm sorry for what had happened yesterday." apologized Shiro.

"Don't be! It was just a bad experience, I'm sure the next time he rides on my footplate, it won't be so scary."

I think the next time Takara rides in an engine cab, he'll have a better time. What do you think?


End file.
